The present invention relates to live bait containers and, in particular, to a container having a fabric mesh sewn to rigid stays to define displaced walls and an enclosed storage cavity and including a resealing access port and a buoyant member sewn to the mesh walls.
A longstanding problem of live bait fishermen, who use minnows and other bait that must remain submerged in water, is providing a means for storing the bait while fishing. Varieties of rigid walled bait containers and traps with hinged doors and perforated walls exist. These containers are typically constructed from metallic mesh screen or perforated metal or plastic. These containers can be dragged from a boat or can be mounted inside a solid walled outer container that supports a quantity of water.
Rigid walled, built-in bait wells and/or live wells are also provided on many fishing boats. In lieu of towing the foregoing bait containers and depending upon the size of the live well, many of the foregoing bait containers can be inserted into a live well. The bait is thereby segregated from any fish that are caught and kept. Damage can occur, however, to the bait, captured fish, bait container and/or live well with normal jostling of the bait container during boat operation.
Mesh fabric outfitted with buoyant floats has also been used to store live bait such as leeches and as a holding pen for live wells. The walls of such assemblies, however, can collapse against the contained bait and/or fish and obstruct normal gill movement and breathing, thereby severely effecting bait mortality and storage time.
The present invention was developed to provide an economical mesh fabric, live bait container with a resealing access port that can support bait, such as minnows and other aquatic bait or insects (e.g. grasshoppers and crickets). The container and bait can be stored in a live well. The walls are displaced with resilient, flexible stays to define a bait storage space. One or more compartments can be provided to segregate multiple types or different species of bait. One or more buoyant floats can be included to support the container. The stays can flex during boat movement allowing the walls to collapse and expand. Damage is thereby minimized to the stored bait, fish, bait container and/or live well. The bait container can also be collapsed for storage.